Trip Report: Brockville, Ontario and St. Lawrence River

[Sansho]

Just returned from a trip to Brockville, Ontario, Canada where we dove for two days in the St. Lawrence. Here's the trip report (sorry no pictures) ....

From Connecticut, it is a 6.5 hour drive, best gas price $3.83 in upstate NY. Entering Canada was easy, couple of questions from Customs, and on our way. We stayed at the Comfort Inn in Brockville, and would recommend it. They have a free continental breakfast and newly updated rooms with 42" TV's (they also have a digital camera hookup to the TV). If you call them directly for your reservation, they have a special divers nightly rate ($95), and they have sliding doors so you can park right outside the room and bring equipment in/out - very convenient. There was a dog show in town this weekend, and this hotel is pet friendly, so a number of rooms had show dogs in them. With the fan on in the evening, we didn't hear any barking.

We dove with ABUCS diving center, run by Helen Cooper (Their web site is Dive Brockville Adventure Centre - bicyle kayak fishing rod rentals gift shop 1000 islands scuba diving swimming vacation trip leisure enjoy ). The shop is 5 minutes away from where the two local boats are. I rented nitrox tanks from them, with the rest of the gear my own. Overall, the diving conditions were nice. Since warm water from the lakes spreads through the St. Lawrence river, there are no thermoclines. Surface water temp was 72º and at 95' the temp was 71º. I dove in a 5mm wetsuit, with hood and gloves, and was very comfortable. A couple of people dove in 3mm, with hood and gloves, although one person was getting a bit chilled by the end of the second day. A number of people dove dry, too. Visibility was around 40', however, I'm told by those who dive this area regularly that viz can be upwards of 70' at this time of year. We did two dives each day, with lunch served, as well as a night dive. A dive light is handy for investigating nooks and crannies around the wrecks. The St. Lawrence is a commercial shipping route, so while in the dive boat, we did see some large tankers go by in the channel.

The first day we went out on Helen C, the smaller of the two boats in Brockville (they have two others down the river), with a comfortable 8 divers on a 12 capacity boat. We dove the Muskie, Abucs Scuba Dive Brockville.com St Lawrence River, Ontario Canada . This is a 95' dive in mild current, and the remains of the Muskie were moderately interesting. The second dive of the day was the Gaskin, Abucs Scuba Dive Brockville.com St Lawrence River, Ontario Canada . This is a 67' dive, also in mild currents, where you can dive through the wreck, as most of the decking on this once-double masted ship, is gone.

Lunch each day was hamburgers/cheeseburgers/hotdogs from a propane grill on the boat deck. Plenty of bottled water available during the trip.

Second day, Saturday, we started early, going out on the Emily C, the larger boat, with another group of divers. 17 on this 20 capacity boat was a bit tight for space inside the cabin with all the equipment, although there is an upper deck and forward deck where people could sit. First we dove the Daryaw, Abucs Scuba Daryaw Wreck St Lawrence, Brockville . This is a 90' dive in a stronger current, however, there are ropes and chains around the ship to make navigation easier. Second dive on Saturday was on the Lillie Parsons, Abucs Scuba Dive Brockville.com St Lawrence River, Ontario Canada . This is a 75' wreck dive with a fair amount of current, and becomes a nice drift dive also. You pull yourself into the current following a chain going around the hull, then following the current over the keel of the boat (it's upside down), you drift around an island wall to grab the yellow line hanging on the wall, do your safety stop, and pop up close to the dive boat. This is a fun dive.

Finally, we did a night dive on the Gaskin, which we visited on Friday. We got a thorough historical and site briefing from Vince, and had an enjoyable night dive ... a great way to wrap up two days of diving.

If you have a non-diving friend or spouse, there is alot to do in the area. My wife enjoyed an all day guided kayaking trip, for example.

Couple of restaurants we ate at: The Buell St Bistro. Informal to business casual dress. A number of rooms with limited tables creates a nice atmosphere, and they have an outdoor patio also. Varied and interesting menu. A vegetarian selection that was surprisingly good is a the walnut and sunflower seed-based burger. Bud's by the Bay is another place to eat, more informal and relaxed, good beer selection, a number of menu choices, so you'll find something you'll like.

Return through US Customs took about 20 minutes, due only to the quantity of traffic. Once we got to the Customs officer, we spent just a few minutes answering a couple of questions. We both had our passports, also. Since it's been discussed in another thread, I'll mention that there was no interest in cell phones or computers.

Overall, I'd recommend ABUCS to dive with, without reservation. Helen is super, and runs a good operation. I'm told her shop and dive service is the best in the Brockville area, and we plan to visit again next year.